Re: [xmca] Centralized vs. Distributed decision-making in schools

[Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com>]

As an interesting side note, this argument has been particularly welcomed
by the political right in the US.

Makes me wonder if there isn't the possibility of a political convergence
in the US?

(e.g. OWS and the Tea Party coming together. If only they didn't hate each
other so much...).

(a post-democratic revolution?)

-greg


On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 7:05 AM, Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net> wrote:

> Wow! That article breathes fire! Great writing, Peter. Education
> Departments in my country as in others have been obliged to copy the US
> system! Presumably political leaders that only ever learnt when to put
> their hands up and how to tick boxes want a population trained in this way
> of life. But seriously, is decentralisation the way to go? Is idiotic
> education policies the result of "big government" or just bad government?
> Or is this just a polemical stance, like "show me a good reason for having
> an Education Department, then"?
>
> Andy
>
>
> Anthony Barra wrote:
>
>> This dispatch on US education reform and the powers that be landed on my
>> Facebook page last night:  "Why the Ed Department should be reconceived -
>> or abolished" - by Peter Smagorinsky
>>
>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/**blogs/answer-sheet/post/why-**
>> the-ed-department-should-be-**reconceived--or-abolished/**
>> 2012/03/09/gIQAHfdB5R_blog.**html<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/why-the-ed-department-should-be-reconceived--or-abolished/2012/03/09/gIQAHfdB5R_blog.html>
>>
>> An educator on education policy, in the public sphere!  More of this
>> please.
>>
>> One excerpt:
>>
>> "Instead of having a highly centralized administration powered by money
>>
>>
>>> contributed by textbook publishers and other entrepreneurs cashing in on
>>> the lucrative enterprise of educational materials production, I would
>>> have
>>> a *highly distributed approach*** in which most decision-making is local
>>> and includes — and indeed, relies on — the perspective of teachers.
>>>
>>> Presently, there’s little reason for practicing teachers to<
>>> http://www.washingtonpost.**com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/**
>>> five-ways-school-reform-is-**hurting-teacher-quality/2012/**
>>> 03/08/gIQAHUMK3R_blog.html<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/five-ways-school-reform-is-hurting-teacher-quality/2012/03/08/gIQAHUMK3R_blog.html>
>>> >**keep up with the latest ideas emerging from credible sources, or to
>>> engage
>>> in the process of producing those ideas and becoming credible sources
>>> themselves. The approach that I suggest would lend urgency to the need
>>> for
>>> teachers to be informed in order to make sound decisions. It would place
>>> a
>>> premium on being a reflective practitioner who is attentive to classroom
>>> processes and student learning, because such observations would become
>>> part
>>> of the broader school conversation about how to best educate the students
>>> who attend the school."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> ***emphasis added* because I (as a citizen, not just educator) would love
>> to hear more about this especially.
>>
>> Anthony
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>>
>>
>>
>
> --
> ------------------------------**------------------------------**
> ------------
> *Andy Blunden*
> Joint Editor MCA: http://www.tandfonline.com/**toc/hmca20/18/1<http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hmca20/18/1>
> Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
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-- 
Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
Sanford I. Berman Post-Doctoral Scholar
Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition
Department of Communication
University of California, San Diego
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